While her fellow chefs entered the kitchen for the Quickfire challenge, Wong – who was “16 weeks pregnant and still dealing with the side effects of a rough first trimester,” she explained on Instagram – lay in a hospital bed recovering from severe altitude sickness.

The Honolulu-based chef along with San Diego’s Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins had returned to “Top Chef” the week before after besting Washington D.C.’s Kwame Onwuachi in a “Last Chance Kitchen” Quickfire Challenge.

“Oh man! Tom really likes to make it difficult for us,” Joe Sasto said after the episode aired on Thursday, Jan. 4. “We all knew that ‘Last Chance Kitchen’ was coming at some point in the show, and then to walk in and see it was like a huge twist of events. You come to terms with one person coming back, and then not one more person comes back, but two. It just adds such a mental weight to everything.”

That episode’s elimination challenge involved an overnight campout in tents at Estes Park, which sits at an altitude of 7,500 feet, in the snow.

“I know that she was struggling up on the mountain and that there was a lot of concern for her well-being,” said Bruce Kalman, speaking by phone during a shopping trip through Whole Foods Market in Pasadena. “We wanted her to be OK. I think ‘Top Chef’ is not necessarily conducive if you’re pregnant and competing and doing the things that we do. It’s extremely physical.

“And she’s tough,” he added.

Sasto called her “a fierce competitor.

“Everybody was nervous that she was back,” he said by phone more recently. “She had such a good showing on ‘Last Chance Kitchen’ and again up on the mountain. Her going home was one of those bittersweet moments for everyone.”

Since leaving “Top Chef,” Wong gave birth to Rye Ikaika Cady by C-section on Nov. 17.

“In any other number of circumstances I would have stayed and continued to compete, but #BabyRye will always be my number one priority and I don’t regret my decision for a minute,” she said on Instagram. “I got to see old friends and make new ones and this season’s cast are a bunch of wonderfully talented and charismatic chefs, each with their own culinary point of view. As brief as my interaction was, I am so glad I got to cook with them and look forward to finding out who takes the crown this season! In the end this’ll be a great story to tell Rye someday, and he’ll always be the first baby to compete on the set of @bravotopchef.”

<p style=” margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd1fqybllQ6/” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_blank”>The story goes like this: when I signed on to do #LastChanceKitchen it was for kicks, and honestly I didn’t actually believe I would get back on the show. #TopChef was a solid 5 years of my life, from the being on Season One, and then producing the show for the next 4 years, so the return was deja vu, a combination of fun, anxiety, and lot of bad assery with my fellow Top Cheffers (we are all one giant family). At the time we filmed I was 16 weeks pregnant, and still dealing with the side effects of a rough first trimester as well as the great unknowns of being a first time expecting mother. Living at sea level and suddenly competing in back to back challenges at 5000 ft with zero time to acclimate did a number on me, and needless to say, an overnight challenge at 8000 ft in a snowstorm was probably the worst challenge I could’ve stepped into upon return. When the on set medic told me she wanted me to go to the hospital in an ambulance I was like, “are you serious?” But I had a fever, light sensitivity, a headache that wouldn’t quit, and my blood pressure was through the roof. After being diagnosed w severe altitude sickness the doctors told me the best thing for me and my baby would be to get back down to a lower altitude. I didn’t have to think twice about it. In any other number of circumstances I would have stayed and continued to compete, but #BabyRye will always be my number one priority and I don’t regret my decision for a minute. I got to see old friends and make new ones and this season’s cast are a bunch of wonderfully talented and charismatic chefs, each with their own culinary point of view. As brief as my interaction was, I am so glad I got to cook with them and look forward to finding out who takes the crown this season! In the endthis’ll be a great story to tell Rye someday, and he’ll always be the first baby to compete on the set of @bravotopchef . #TC15 #OG #TCohana #mamaknowsbest #priorities #luckyilivehawaii #mahalo</a></p> <p style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>A post shared by <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/leeannewong/” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;” target=”_blank”> Lee Anne Wong</a> (@leeannewong) on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2018-01-12T04:23:09+00:00″>Jan 11, 2018 at 8:23pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote> //platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js

Los Angeles Daily News reporter Sandra Barrera has been writing about entertainment and lifestyle topics since 1998. Before joining the Daily News in 2000, she was a reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario where she helped launch the now-defunct entertainment magazine 72HOURS as its music writer. Her reporting career at the Daily News has included fashion coverage from the red carpet at Hollywood's biggest awards shows, home and garden trends with a particular focus on earth-friendly alternatives and a wide range of events, from theater to the latest happenings at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

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